The Bank of Albania Governor, Gent Sejko, told a press conference on Wednesday that, “inflation is expected to remain high in the fourth quarter of the current year, but will progressively fall during 2023 and return to the target rate in the second quarter of 2024.”

Referring to the statistics, the Governor emphasized that, “consumer price inflation increased by 7.9% in the third quarter. The increase in inflation largely reflected the increase in the price of food, oil and transport costs, which generated about 80% of total inflation in the third quarter.”
However, he pointed out, from the macroeconomic point of view, the increase in inflation largely reflects the strong pressures coming from the foreign environment, but also a growing contribution from the domestic environment.

Sejko explained that the increase in internal inflationary pressures reflects the action of three factors.
“First, the good cyclical position of the Albanian economy, a position which originates from the stable demand for goods and services and implies a high utilization of internal production capacities, has been accompanied by a rapid increase in wages. Second, the high prices of raw materials, oil and energy, lead to a further increase in domestic production costs. Thirdly, the increase in expected inflation leads to increase in the prices of future contracts”, said the Governor, as he pointed out that, “inflation factors into our expectations for the stabilization of prices in foreign markets and for the further expansion of economic activity in the country.”
/j.p/r.e/sm/